AutoCAD Exchange

June 15, 2012

Product Keys for Autodesk Software

Product keys are required for installation and activation of Autodesk products and are used to differentiate products that are both sold independently and as part of one or more product suites. For example, the AutoCAD you receive as a point product is identical to the AutoCAD you receive as part of a suite except for the license it requests. It is the product key that tells us what was purchased so it can be activated appropriately. Thus, a user installing AutoCAD 2013 as a point product would use product key 001E1, but a user installing AutoCAD 2013 from the Autodesk Product Design Suite Ultimate 2013 would use product key 781E1. The exact same AutoCAD gets installed in both cases but it is the product key that differentiates one package from the other.

Product keys were first introduced in the 2010 releases and since that time we have received a pretty steady volume of support calls from customers who don't know where to find their product key. This has resulted in the creation of solutions such as How to find your serial number and product key in Subscription Center and How to find the product key for your Autodesk product. Even with those references, some customers still seem to have trouble finding their product keys, or they work in an environment where that information is not readily accessible to them, e.g., they don't have their product media, they don't have access to the Subscription Center, etc.

To help address these issues, the following four technical solutions have just been published to the Autodesk support knowledge base listing the individual product keys for 2010-2013 Autodesk products:

Important Note: Make sure you use the correct product key for the Autodesk product and version you are installing or activating. Entering an incorrect product key can result in activation errors for that product.